|
GlobalVote is an innovative, internet-based democratic tool that enhances democracy through shadow voting and polling systems. GlobalVote takes advantage of the global link provided by the internet, establishing a fair and proper voting system for assessing global public opinion.
Over the past decade, the Internet has created a world that communicates effortlessly and regularly works together to effect positive change. While both the private and public sectors have largely been transformed by this technology, the power structures of the world’s most influential decision-making organizations have not embraced the opportunities offered by these developments. They have in fact remained more or less the same since the end of the Second World War.
GlobalVote has been launched to collect the opinions of the international online community, to educate users on the world’s most pressing global issues, and to contribute to the debate on decision-making processes within major international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. By disseminating polling results to these International Organizations, to universities, the media, and to national governments, GlobalVote will mobilize this community and effect positive change that the world has clearly spoken for.
The global link provided by the Internet allows for these kind of discussions to take place at an international level with central moderation. GlobalVote plans to focus its attention on the world’s most pressing international issues, such as nuclear disarmament, climate change, and the world’s responsibility to take action in crisis situations.
We aim to educate and inform our online voting community about these important issues, especially those users who otherwise might not have access to information regarding global politics and global decision-making in an organized, systematic way. Uninformed users will become active, informed voters by utilizing our website and the information we provide on the posted resolution.
Global citizenship is now such a viable idea that it warrants global responsibility. The voice of the world community has yet to be articulated in an effective way. The potential is there, but has been left unrealized for far too long.
How does GlobalVote work?
GlobalVote consists of a combination of delegated representation and a general (popular) vote. There will be 192 national virtual parliaments — one for each of the 192 member states of the UN — with 100 representatives. The first three parliament seats for each country will be designated as board-member seats and will be be representatives from universities, non-governmental organizations, think-tanks, and the media. The remaining 97 parliament members will be chosen on a representational basis according to age, gender, marital status, education, and religion, and will be expected to have an understanding of global issues. Participants beyond the first 100 in each country will gain ‘general voter’ status and will represent their parliaments in the global popular vote, which consists of the opinions of all GlobalVote members.
Voting statistics gathered through Global Vote will be available, showing global, national, and individual results, and are presented in graphs, tables, and trend lines. Available information includes a voter's age, gender, occupation, education level, religion, and political views (among others). GlobalVote will also offer voting scenarios that are unique to polling organizations. The default voting scenario is one country-one vote, with 51% representing a majority. Other voting scenarios reflect UN veto policies (with the world’s most powerful countries possessing veto power as a majority), the global popular vote (a majority of world votes), the global weighted vote (which takes population size into account), and other scenarios that grant more voting power to under-developed countries or to a country’s female population.
GlobalVote promotes transparent voting on every level. We want to disseminate the type of global opinion data that is not offered by the UN and international decision makers, which conduct opaque voting processes, often behind closed doors. GlobalVote will preserve the integrity of an individual’s vote by refusing to recognize official political parties, lobbyists, or the interests of major corporations.
|
